Coasters: Give Hill the job

Mark Hill must have finally exhaled when Orange Coast College

reopened the head men’s basketball coaching position on May 11.

Hill, last season’s OCC coach who had initially said he would not

apply, put his name back in the mix, after he realized the emptiness he

would have received if coaching was out of his life.

“It was something that I knew I was going to end up missing,” said

Hill, who is a full-time physical education teacher at Esperanza High. “I

have another 20-something years before I retire.”

Hill is currently the interim coach as he is still recruiting and

teaching a summer school basketball class at Coast.

Preparing for what might be his fifth year, Hill continues to build

next year’s team without concern for his future.

How will he react if he’s not hired?

“I don’t know,” Hill said before Tuesday’s basketball class. “That’s

just something I’m not thinking about. I’ve put four years in and I have

a sense of loyalty to (OCC). I don’t want to leave them hanging out in

the dark.”

If Hill is not hired, it seems as if the program would have to start

over rather than pick up where it left off -- an up-and-coming team

which had problems with effort and finishing games last year, but showed

promise with a 5-0 start in conference play.

However, Hill believes the program will be fine with or without him,

thus the reason he is still at work today so that he proves that belief.

“(OCC) is a great place to be,” Hill said as another reason he applied

for the job. “I’ve enjoyed my relationship with everyone I’ve worked

with. My heart is set on getting the job at OCC.”

Hill said he would turn his focus to Esperanza High, to teach if he is

not hired. If OCC does hire Hill, he would have to resign from 15 years

of teaching at Esperanza as his new job will be full-time.

When Coast announced the new opening the first time, the full-time

aspect attracted many applicants.

Yet, there weren’t enough finalists to conduct a proper set of

interviews, OCC Athletics Director Fred Hokanson said.

Irvine Valley’s Jerry Hernandez said he almost applied for the OCC

job, but he enjoys the contentment he has at IVC, where he’s in the midst

of building his type of team.

Former OCC Coach Tandy Gillis, who is also at IVC as an assistant,

said he received a coaching offer. But, Gillis said he’s done with head

coaching.

While he has a strong love for Coast, Gillis remains soured because of

the way he was treated when his coaching days ended at the school despite

the fact none of personalities involved have been in the framework of the

administration for some time now.

The applicants for the OCC job also included College of Sequoias Coach

George Tarkanian, son of Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian. With the

suspension levied on Sequoias last season, it’s hard to believe George

Tarkanian made the final interviews, which are taking place in two weeks.

Fresno City College and COS violated recruiting rules last season and

were suspended from postseason play.

Because of the unknown coaching situation at Coast, recruiting might

seem to be a problem. But, Hill said that has not been the case.

“We may have lost a kid here or there because of that,” Hill said.

“But for the most part, I’m happy with what we’ve done with the

recruiting. We have 30 players in the basketball class.”

It would be silly if OCC didn’t hire Hill. Unless the school discovers

a big-name coach, Hill would be best for the job since he’s established

and he’s willing to take the pay cut, the reason he didn’t apply in the

first place.

Hill served as an assistant for two years with Tim O’Brien before

taking the head-coaching job for another two. He guided the Pirates into

the postseason in both of his seasons as head coach and finished last

season 16-14, Coast’s best record since 1997-98. The Pirates won 11 games

during a 13-game stretch in the middle of the season and spent most of

the year ranked in the top 20 in the state.

Congratulations to OCC Sports Information Director Sam Felsenfeld and

his wife Tiffany, who delivered “little” Benjamin Patrick on June 27.

“Moose,” as Sam likes to call him, weighed in at nine pounds, seven

ounces and was 21 inches long.